Snowshoe Mountain is worth a visit if you like winter sports. Snowshoe Mountain is the name of the resort, not the name of the mountain itself. It is located in the bowl shaped convergence of two mountains, Cheat and Back Allegheny. Snowshoe Mountain Resort has some of the best skiing in the mid-Atlantic region and the entire east coast. It’s fairly remote, out in the middle of nowhere in West Virginia, but generally has colder temperatures and more snow than other ski areas in the mid-Atlantic. With so much area for skiing, it is not as crowded and congested as other ski areas in the region we have visited.
There are three different areas for skiing: Silver Creek, Snowshoe Basin, and Western Territory. The Silver Creek area tends to be the least crowded with the shortest liftlines and this is the only area with night skiing. The Snowshoe Basin area is the main area and the largest. Sometimes, the lines for the lifts can get a little long, but they usually get them moving pretty quick. The last area, Western Territory, has only two trails, a black diamond and double-black, which have 1500 feet of elevation loss over about 1.5 miles. This area is for more advanced skiers and I wasn’t ready yet to go there.
It is possible to cover quite a bit of ground here, as the trails tend to crisscross the area. We went up one lift on the north end and skied down the trails to a lift at the south end and then back. It makes the ski runs a bit longer, so we spent more time actually skiing and less time waiting in line. Unlike most ski resorts, you start at the top of the mountain (where the condos and stores are), ski down, and then take a lift back up.
The village on the top of the Mountain is really cute with decent restaurants. The Foxfire Grille restaurant is beautiful with great food, expensive though, like everywhere else in the resort area.
A little crash… Luckily, without much damage.
We booked a nice big cabin with the group and got a great discount on rooms and lift tickets. We couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions while we were there. Tons of fresh snow every night and perfect temps. The cabin was great with 2 huge kitchens, hot tub and all the necessary amenities. It was a little crowded in the evenings, but everyone was very nice and we all had a wonderfull time. We brought our own groceries too and used the kitchen often. This way we only needed to eat out for lunches.
Just a part of our group upon arrival.
Our cozy room.
Hot tub outside the cabin felt incredible after a whole day of skiing.
Deer are near our cabin.
Exiting Snowshoe. We will be back! 🙂
